Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18 mm F4.0-5.6 Lens, Wide Angle Zoom, Suitable for All MFT Cameras (Olympus OM-D & PEN Models, Panasonic G-Series), Black

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Well 35mm sensors just perform better due to having the laws of physics behind them. However those same laws make the camera's and lenses bulky and unwieldy. m43 compromises High ISO in favour of having a smaller more nimble system. Whether one thinks it's a good trade-off is personal opinion. The Olympus 9-18 mm offers you a 2x zoom range. In practice you will discover that the 9 mm focal length will be used predominantly. Set to a focal length of 9 mm, the Olympus 9-18 mm delivers an impressive viewing angle of 100 degrees. This is ideal for panoramic photographers, because you – taking into account sufficient overlap – only need 5 shots to make a 360 degree panorama. In this case, a single image has been cropped to a panoramic format. Construction and autofocus At the time of writing it's not clear whether or not the 9-18mm ƒ/4-5.6 M.Zuiko ships with its interesting LH-55B lens hood; we didn't get one with the sample we tested. The lens is a rectangular-shaped hood, which attaches via a bayonet mount. I have been using mine for couple ofonths and have really enjoyed using it. For me I am pleased that I brought it. I also own the 7-14/2.8 and really didn't love it. Purple flare was not a problem with the 7-14 on my Panasonic G1; but can be on my OM-D. If you follow some of the links above (to which I contributed) you will see that it’s as much an Olympus problem as a 7-14mm.

Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital Review

I have two other lenses that function great so it's probably not a camera issue, but I desperately need this lens as my only wide angle lens. At a normal viewing size, the color fringing in the first image would hardly be noticeable. I did not take pictures of branches against the bright sky–those would probably have evoked even stronger fringing. But under most conditions, the fringing is manageable in post processing. DistortionOf course, we all need to train ourselves out of the habit of calling them the best Olympus lenses, since the brand is now officially called OM System. The latest lenses, for example, are the OM System M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro II and the OM System M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/4 Pro. The Leica is the only one to feature an AF/MF switch on the side of the barrel. To switch between AF and MF on the Olympus, you must enter the camera menu.

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm 1:4-5.6 review

The large, bulbous front element of the Panasonic lens creates distracting purple flare, despite the built-in petal lens hood. At all focal lengths and apertures makes the Panasonic in combination with the Olympus OM-D jpg files with a high center sharpness. With focal lengths from 9 to 12 millimeters is the sharpness at the edges slightly behind the center, above the sharpness in the center and corners practically equal. Nowhere does the resolution below 1000 LW / PH and thus, many lenses, including fixed focal length, trumped by the Olympus 9-18 mm. The lens features an extremely compact and lightweight design for a wideangle zoom, realising one of the benefits promised by Olympus for the Four Thirds system on its launch. This is achieved with an optical formula of 13 elements in 9 groups, including an ED glass element to minimise chromatic aberration and extensive use of aspherical lens surfaces (the front element is 'Dual Super Aspherical', no less). Also making an appearance is Olympus's 'focus-by-wire' system, with no direct mechanical connection between the manual focus ring and the motor-driven internal focus group.

Olympus 9-18mm main features

So without further ado (as they say on YouTube), here's our list of the best Olympus / OM System lenses to get right now. Best Olympus ultra-wide-angle zooms Tony, so great to see the comparison! Any thoughts about flare? I have the 9-18mm, and I’m having trouble with flare around windows with my interior shots using available light (no flash) and HDR. I was wondering if the 7-14mm controlled flare better under these circumstances? Thanks again! There are a few too many M.Zuiko lenses to cram into a single guide, and they cater for a multitude of purposes and user types, so we've split our guide into four sections: With an adapter, the four-thirds mount version of the Sigma 10-20mm ƒ/4-5.6 (or the newer ƒ/3.5 version) should be compatible with the PEN series of camera, and while we've tested it, you'll have to use your imagination on our test graph to compare its performance with the Olympus 9-18mm. The lens is less expensive, and would provide an equivalent field of view of 20-40mm, though it would be heavier than the camera itself, making for a potentially unwieldy combination of lens and camera.

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Corner shading isn't really an issue with this lens, with image corners exposing a quarter-stop darker than the center of the image at all focal lengths and apertures, with one exception; used at 9mm and ƒ/4, the corners are a half-stop darker than the center. The lens comes with a standard Micro Four Thirds mount that is, thankfully, made of metal. Olympus does not claim any sort of weather resistance for this lens, and indeed you cannot see a rubber seal around the mount (note that no current Micro Four Thirds camera is weather sealed anyway). Considering their limited application they often stay home. But when used some of these will create even more stunning perspectives.

Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital User Reviews

The lens is nicely balanced with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and focusing is fast, quiet and accurate. The silent internal focusing mechanism moves only one lens element, and is ideal for filming. Image stabilization but I am not used to the extreme cheap-construction Level without lens hood and I got dust between the lenses As for manual focusing, we found that the Leica’s ring was somewhat easier to use and provided better resistance than that of the Olympus. Vignetting is kept low. Only at a focal distance of 9 mm at full opening there can be, in practice, a slight degree of visible vignetting. In all other cases, vignetting is negligible. Distortion That said a small m43 body with the 14mm 20mm and 45mm should not be underestimated. It's capable of profesional results that can be printed in magazines if the person behind the camera is as capable as the body lens combination.